All posts tagged windows bootable

As many of you know, there is a tool named “Koala“, which helps you to make a bootable USB thumbdrive with Windows NT 6.x (Vista, 7, 8.x, Server 2008, Server 2012, etc) installer on-board.

This tool originally was made by my partner in science Dom, under the brand of FreeModding. Unfortunately this brand does not exist anymore, it was a great community, and I wanted to host this tool on the main website to help Dom to maintain it alive.
One or two years have already passed since then, and I asked Dom if he could update Koala to better support the new builds of Windows, and him replied that is not really satisfied how the actual Koala works and he would to rewrite it totally with also a new interface (UI).
I fastly dropped him a draft made in MS Paint (Yes! :°D ) about how the UI could be, and asked him if I could give an hand to build it up. He accepted and together we had completed the draft… even in MS Paint.
We chosen, this time, to use Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) instead of classical Windows Form because it allow a better user experience in making and using graphically-based UIs.
I never wrote a project in WPF (this was my first!), and initially was a bit hard because some animations and customization must be made in XML, others in C#. Well you have to cross use XML and C# if you want really better results.
After several weeks of works and minor testing I’ve finally wrote about the 90% of the entire UI. I’m still trying to optimize the code and, at the same time, test it on various OS (Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8) to make sure it works correctly and fast!

Now Dom is rewriting all the engine that makes the USB bootable. We both, especially him, are busy and the work on Koala 2 is going very slow. But out expectations are great, and we hope you all will appreciate the work we are putting on this tool!

Note: The UI is not 100% completed yet. Some layout and icons could be changed.

We need translators! So if you want to contribute and help us please contact us at: koala -at- jacksoftlabs -dot- com